


It Started On A Summer Night

by hannafurukawa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha Iwaizumi Hajime, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Non-Canon Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-08 09:44:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17384141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannafurukawa/pseuds/hannafurukawa
Summary: Young Hajime whacks Oikawa on the face before he even meets him (and develops a crush).‘Who are you?’ Hajime flashed the light at the boy he hit. He was really pretty, Hajime thought. Like. Really, really pretty. Even with the now reddening mark on his face and the outraged look on his soft features.His stomach felt funny all of a sudden.





	1. Chapter 1

They were doing it again. Hajime's parents were throwing another one of those parties, it always happened around this time of the year. Hajime didn't  like these events. He was forced to wear tight clothes, the ones similar to what Father wore all the time. His Mama kept telling him he looked very handsome but Hajime didn’t see why it should matter, it certainly didn’t help him like the clothes he had on any better. They were hard to run around in and they wrinkled very easily which meant that Father and Mama expected him to be on his best behaviour the whole night.

‘Hold still Hajime,’ his Mama smoothed down the collar of his shirt after she caught him tugging at it. ‘I want you to be good for Mama like before, yes?’ She waited for him to agree before she continued. ‘Your Father has important guests and it shan't do for you to be running around. Remember your afternoon lessons with Mr Tashi?’

‘Yes Mama’, of course he did. Hajime hated those lessons with the old beta, he'd  have to sit straight for what felt like forever and he had to use Western cutlery. Why did they need so many? Why couldn’t they be like the Japanese?

'Good. I need you to act how you were taught in those lessons, okay?’

Hajime just nodded and followed her downstairs to where all the guests were. The small ballroom on their estate was packed.  There were some children around but they looked a bit older than him. Probably more his sister's age, they tended to ignore him and Hajime wasn’t all too bothered by that. He was however, eager to go outside.

Hajime huffed impatiently, he'd  never seen so manny fireflies come out before; he wanted  to try and catch some. 'Can I go now?'

‘Not now, Hajime,’ his mother firmly said. Hajime stopped moving and frowned at her, refusing to move. Not wanting a scene knowing how obstinate her son could be, she relented. ‘In a while,’ she promised. ‘Come with Mama to say hello first.’ Hajime was about to whine when his mother gave him a stern look and the Pup knew he had to stop.

 

Eyes turned to the hostess of the night as she entered. Aiki Iwaizumi, an omega socialite married to one of the wealthiest Alphas in their small upper-class circle. To the ones less privy to the grapevines of the elite, Aiki Iwaizumi going around to play the hostess with her young son in tow created a perfect picture of a devoted mother. But everyone else saw the facade for what it was- a sad attempt at reasserting her position as Takashi Iwaizumi’s wife. It was common knowledge after all, that their bonding was a sham. 

 

At first Hajime was content to come along, however, the pup soon grew bored and his legs were beginning to hurt from standing too long.  It wasn’t helping that nearly all the women he’s met have made it into a goal to pinch his cheeks, needless to say, Hajime was trying very, very hard not to growl or bite them.

His mother was exchanging pleasantries with an elderly couple when she suddenly stopped halfway and a beaming smile lit her face. She quickly excused herself and Hajime found himself hastening his pace to match his mother’s for the first time that whole evening. Aiki stopped in front of a tall, beautiful lady with brown hair that fell down in smooth cascades. Hajime observed his mother as she let out an uncharacteristic squeal that was matched by the beautiful lady upon  seeing each other before they embraced.

 

‘Mari! I wasn’t expecting you tonight!’ His mother spoke after pulling back from the hug.

A brief frown marred Mari’s face before the smile returned. ‘Touma told me he’d confirmed we were in the country after receiving the invitate. I was wondering why you hadn’t contacted me and I was going to ring you but then we got caught up with so many things.'

'Oh, it doesn’t matter anymore. Surprise Aiki!’ She  raised her voice at the end and wiggled her fingers for effect eliciting a laugh from Hajime’s mother.

‘Oh I’ve missed you!’ And as if recalling her son, she turned around and beckoned Hajime who’d curiously looked on at his mother and her friend.

‘He looks just like his father Aiki.’ Mari said on impulse. She noted how her friend stiffened at the comment and she squeezed Aiki’s hand both in sympathy and apology. Aiki shook her head and Mari made a mental note to speak to her friend another time.

She turned her attention to Hajime and  smiled down kindly at him. The pup was once again awed by how beautiful the woman was.

‘A little Alpha in the making?’ Mari asked.

If it was anyone else asking, Iwaizumi Aiki would have been quite irritated by the question. However, this was Mari asking, and Aiki knew her friend holds the same views as her when it came to Presentation. ‘He’s showing signs of presenting as one, but I won’t say it’s definite.’

‘Well I should think so.’ Mari knew without a doubt that Hajime would later present as an Alpha. Unlike the other genders, Alpha genes were much more dominant making future Alphas easy to identify at a young age although they're still nowhere near puberty.

Hajime listened to the conversation with mild interest, unsure of what to make of it.

‘Hajime, this is your Aunty Mari, she’s a very close friend of mine when I went to university.’ His mother finally introduced her and Hajime politely bowed and greeted her formally.

‘Oh he’s lovely Aiki! Already a gentleman,’ Mari gushed. The Pup felt shy at the compliment and he found himself half-hiding behind the folds of his mother’s gown making Mari laugh at how cute he was.

‘I wish my Tooru would take his lessons more seriously, he’s far too obsessed with volleyball.’

This earned a curious look from his mother.  ‘Oh he’s around Hajime’s age isn’t he? He’d just had his birthday a few weeks ago, I remember you were still carrying Tooru when I’ve just had Hajime.’

‘Yes!’ Mari excitedly nodded as if it had never occurred to her. ‘Hajime you should meet my son,’ she smiled down at Hajime, ‘Tooru’s new to Japan and he needs a friend.’ The Pup wasn’t sure what to say to that, and just politely nodded at his mother’s friend. ‘Maybe your son can teach mine to behave a bit more,’ she added to Aiki.

‘Oh I’m sure your son’s just fine on his own Mari,’ his mother kindly replied. ‘Where is Tooru?’

‘He was with Touma just now, the brat carried his ball with him, so Touma’s walked him back to the car to leave it there.’ She rolled her eyes in exasperation and Aiki chuckled at that.

‘Hajime, why don’t you go get your Aunt Mari and I some drinks.’ She gestured at the table across the room and Hajime darted at the opportunity to leave.

 

He was careful not to bump into any of the adults as he went to fetch drink for them. Hajime thought about Aunt Mari’s son, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet this Tooru. He didn't  really care much about the other children his age.

He’d finally reached the table and was reaching for two glasses when he paused and turned to look back at his mother and his friend. The women were gone from the spot they were in before.

 

Hajime saw it for the free pass it was and darted outside to the gardens.

 

* * *

 

 

He kept running until the music and the chatter of the guests became a distant whisper to Hajime’s ears. There was a shed on the grounds and Hajime had kept a collection of items he needed to catch the fireflies. Last year Hajime hasn’t been that successful in filling up a whole jar, but now he knew what he had to do to. He took his net and his jar, one with a flapped lid to which the groundskeeper had kindly removed the glass and instead replaced with a mesh too small for insects to fly out of.  

Hajime was doing an excellent job of catching the fireflies in the clearing, he made sure to swing his net swiftly, but gently, he didn’t want to hurt any of them. The Pup was so pre-occupied that he hadn’t realised that he was no longer alone.

 

A pair of chocolate brown eyes were watching him curiously.

 

Tooru had ran into the woods knowing none of the other kids at the party would find him here, he got roped into playing hide and seek (the game’s pretty stupid but Mama said he needed to make friends). He doubted anyone else would be brave enough to go into the thick trees surrounding the perimeter of the gardens.

He’d held his breath when he caught the glow of a flashlight a few metres next to the shrub he was hiding in, he’d got up when the flash landed directly on his face thinking he’d been caught but the light just flitted past him. That's whe  Tooru saw the small figure, he crept closer and he giggled softly at the sight that met him. It was a boy, around his age. He was going around with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. One hand held a net, the other a flashlight where he was also hugging a jar close.

Tooru watched the boy silently, not wanting to distract him, he would probably get pretty mad at Tooru if he did. And Tooru didn’t want him mad. So he waited until the boy seemed to grow tired and he’d carefully secured the jar of fireflights. Finally.

 

‘Can I have a go?’ Tooru felt a flash of pain soon after he finished his question as a net hit him straight to the face. ‘Oww,’ Tooru groaned his hand on his throbbing head.

 

‘Who are you?’ Hajime directed the light at the boy he hit. He was really pretty, Hajime thought. Like. Really, really pretty. Even with the now reddening mark on his face and the outraged look on his soft features. His face promised to be what people would call 'classically handsome' someday. He had dark brown hair that Hajime had the urge to touch to see if it was as soft as it looked and  his eyes were gorgeous, a shade lighter than his locks.

His stomach felt funny all of a sudden.

He also smelled amazing. Hajime’s been taught from an early age to dismiss scents coming off others. But this was so hard to ignore, Hajime didn’t think he’d ever smelt anything as wonderful  as the boy before him. The smell of ocean waves, orange blossoms, and spring, and something else…Hajime couldn’t put a name on it. But he was already finding it difficult  not to take deep breaths.

Hajime continued to stare at the boy in front of him, unsure of what to say after his first question stayed unanswered.

The two eyed each other warily until Hajime broke the silence. ‘Why are you even here?’ 

‘I was hiding, and I just wanted to try catching those fireflies.’ Tooru huffed getting annoyed with the boy. He wasn’t very nice, he didn’t even apologise for hitting him. ‘I’m just gonna go now.’ He said after the other boy just kept standing there looking at him like he was a nuisance.

When the boy made a move to leave, Hajime found himself moving to stop him before he even knew what he was doing. ‘You can stay,’ he mumbled his eyes on the ground. Hajime felt really shy and he didn’t know why.

‘Reaaally???’ Tooru moved closer to the boy.

‘Yeah really,’ Hajime nodded. He glanced at the other boy who had taken Hajime’s consent as an invitation to go all over his personal space. He was smiling at Hajime like he hadn’t just violently thrown a net at his face, he’s kinda weird, Hajime thought. He then felt guilty about the red mark on the boy's face, that's  bound to stay around for a few days. ‘I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to hit you.’

‘It’s okay,' Tooru dismissed Hajime's apology. He knows he would have done much worse if he had been in the other boy's place, like maybe fling the net and the jar. Tooru crouched over Hajime’s jar and started poking the surface, he'd never seen fireflies that glowed as bright. 'Will you show me how to catch those fireflies?’  The other boy held his hand still and Tooru looked at him in question.

 ‘Don’t tap too hard, you’ll scare them.’ Hajime explained solemnly. Tooru hadn’t really considered insects had feelings but he nodded his head seriously and lifted the jar more carefully.

 ‘Come on,’ Hajime took Tooru’s hand so they could get him a jar of his own. He tried not to think too much of how nice it felt to hold his hand. ‘I’ll teach you how to.’

 

 

* * *

 

 

The boys were lying on their front staring at the two jars now filled with fireflies. Tooru’s light blazer and Hajime’s jacket were tossed on the ground next to them. Both boys’ clothes were mud-stained and wrinkled. They knew they’d get an earful from their parents but they left it unsaid, they’ve built a small bubble of their own.

_Tooru had slipped and ruined his trousers earlier, the boy looked like he was about to burst into tears and it spurned Hajime into jumping on the remnants of what was once a puddle. Tooru looked on in wonder as Hajime jumped up and down caking mud all over his shoes before kneeling on the ground giving a good wriggle before standing up._

_He looked at the mud spots on the knees of Tooru’s and then to the newly formed ones on his own trousers. ‘We’re matching now,’ he grinned at Tooru, and to Hajime’s pleasant surprise, he found his face full of fluffy brown hair._

_‘You’re really cool.’ Tooru mumbled in his ear like he was spilling a secret before he pulled away. Hajime felt his cheeks grow hot again, it’s happened a lot ever since he met the other boy._

 

Hajime studied the other boy’s features under the dim light. He couldn’t quite get over how pretty the other boy was. He found himself relaxing more with his company, and for Hajime this was a foreign experience. He didn’t really get along with other kids in school, not in the same way he was now with a boy he’d just met.

There were a lot of things he didn’t know about the boy next to him. He didn’t even know his name! Hajime felt a bit embarrassed to ask now considering that he’d had all this time with the boy and he hadn’t bothered to ask.

‘Umm…what’s your name?’ His need to know the boy’s name won out in the end.

Tooru peered at him, ‘I thought I’ve told you. My name’s Tooru, Oikawa Tooru.’

‘My name’s Iwaizumi Hajime.’ He remembered how his father would introduce himself and wanting to sound more mature suggested that Tooru can call him Iwaizumi.

Tooru scrunched his nose at this. ‘That’s too long.’ He tapped his finger on his chin and drew his brows in concentration. Hajime had seen other kids their age do that and he thought it was a bit extra but on Tooru it was cute.

‘Iwa…Iwa-chan!’

‘That’s too girly!’ Hajime protested.  

'It can be just between us,’ Tooru whispered like it was a secret. He’d moved closer and Hajime’s heart started pounding in his chest at the proximity. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, so he bumped his head onto Tooru’s chin.

‘Ow! Iwa-chan!’ Tooru stuck his tongue out at him. ‘So mean!’

‘Your face was too close.’ Hajime mumbled, he tried to calm down. He didn’t know why he felt like this. ‘And don’t call me Iwa-chan!’ The nickname made him cringe.

‘What’s wrong with my face?’

‘It’s ugly.’ Hajime deadpanned. He barked a laugh at Tooru’s horrified face.

‘Liiiiiiies,’ Tooru bumped shoulders with Hajime a happy smile returning full force. ‘I’m really handsome Iwa-chan,’ he told Hajime matter-of-factly. One thing Hajime has learned about Tooru was that he was not lacking in confidence. ‘I nearly became a model when…’He then told Hajime all about his holiday where he’d come across a scouting agency. Hajime was barely listening to Tooru, he was more focused on Tooru’s face as he went on without much prompting from Hajime’s part.

His pale face was rosy and his eyes were sparkling as his arms flailed around to aid his descriptions. Hajime had learned an English word for that. Ges…ges-ti-cu-late. Tooru was gesticulating. And seven-year-old Hajime was absolutely enraptured by it all.

‘Grrrrrrrr’ Loud growls interrupted Tooru’s story and he had stopped midway to look at Hajime who was rubbing his stomach.

‘Are you hungry Iwa-chan?’

‘Yeah, do you wanna go back?’ Hajime asked getting up from where he was laying, he caught Tooru bob his head in agreement. Hajime picked up their clothes, it was still too humid to put them back on and Tooru hugged their jars close to his chest.

‘We’ll have to let them go,’ Hajime elbowed his friend lightly to make sure he was listening an gestured at the jars when Tooru looked at him confused.

‘Why?’ Tooru pouted. ‘We’ve worked so hard to catch them and you just wanna let them go, that’s silly Iwa-chan.’

‘You’re silly stupid,’ Hajime responded without much heat. Tooru had grown used to his new friend’s blunt way of speaking and wasn’t as bothered by how rude the other boy could be.

‘We need to let them go because fireflies don’t live long,’ Hajime explained somberly. ‘We’ve already kept them for a while, it’s not…’ He tried to think of a word. ‘It’s not…’

‘It’s not nice?’ Tooru chimed.

‘That,’ Hajime agreed. ‘And it’s not…it’s not fair.’ He nodded to himself, satisfied with his choice of wording.

 

Tooru peered at Hajime, he’d thought he was mean. He was very harsh when he spoke and he’d called Tooru a lot of mean names, but…he was also very kind.

* * *

 

The party was still in full swing, Hajime led them away from where all the guests were so that they wouldn’t catch their attention. They were nearly by the kitchens when their luck ran out and his sister spotted them, no doubt noticing his ruined clothes. As soon as she began to approach them, Hajime instinctively ran grabbing Tooru’s hand in his.

‘Why are we running?’ Tooru asked Hajime, turning around to see who they were running away from but Hajime tugged at his arm insistently to keep going.

‘My sister! She’s annoying come on,’ Hajime led Tooru around the corridors in his home, they nearly ran into a few people and the boys would yell out their apologies in between breathless giggles. They caught a couple of amused glances and some guests had to take a double look to make sure they didn’t just imagine the sight of two boys running rampant leaving mud tracks all over the polished marble floors.

They only stopped when Hajime pulled him and Tooru into a dim alcove where no one else was present. Hajime motioned at Tooru to keep quiet as the boy beside him couldn’t seem to stop giggling at the excitement. Tooru had to muffle his mouth with his hands, jars protectively clutched under his arms. Hajime snuck a quick peak at the hall and found no one there. They waited for a few more moments that felt like forever to the young boys but in reality was around five minutes.

‘I think we’re safe to go,’ Tooru said creeping out first wanting to contribute to their escape.

‘Yeah, I think so too. Let’s go get food, you should leave them here, we can get them back after.’ Tooru nodded and left the jars, he trailed behind Hajime until they reached the kitchens. Most of the kitchen staff were too busy to pay them any mind making the boys’ job of getting plates and piling them with whatever food that caught their fancy a very easy affair.

At least until one of senior kitchen staff caught Hajime as he was helping himself to a heap of noodles.  ‘Iwaizumu-kun, your Mama has been looking for you! And look at you, all dirty and stealing food!’ Mazumi had half a mind to report to the Madam that she’s found the Young Master when she felt a tug on her apron.

She turned to find an adorable little boy, equally dirty as Iwaizumi-kun looking at her like a crestfallen puppy.  ‘Aunty, please let us have food. Iwa-chan and I are very hungry and we don’t want our Mama and Papa to yell at us.’ Tooru sniffled at the end and teared up a little. ‘We…we didn’t mean to ruin our clothes. We slipped and Iwa-chan only wanted to help me. It’s my fault.’

Hajime watched in absolute amazement as Tooru essentially guilt-tripped Old Mazumi. Tooru dropped his head but you can see his lower lip trembling and the tears falling on the floor. Mazumi knelt down trying to make the poor boy stop crying, some of the kitchen staff stopped what they were doing, bemused at the sight of their normally composed head chef so out of her element with the little boy.

‘It’s alright, it’s alright stop crying now,’ she soothed Tooru who’d taken his acting down a notch to little shudders. ‘I won’t tell your Mama and Papa, but you and Hajime behave, okay?’

Tooru nodded, ‘you promise Aunty?’ Hajime would swear that he saw a devious glint in Tooru's eyes as the old lady did all she could to soothe the ‘distraught’ friend of the Young Master.

 

 

And that’s how Hajime found himself rolling a trolley full of food to his room. Tooru held their fireflies with one arm and he was smugly eating a French puff pastry with the other.

‘You’re scary. Old Mazumi nearly had a heart attack.’

Tooru shrugged innocently. ‘I don’t know what you mean Iwaaa-chaaan,’ he sang the horrible nickname. Hajime had a gut feeling he’s stuck with it now. ‘Want a bite?’ He waved the pastry to Hajime’s face.

‘Not now idiot, it’s not healthy to have your sweets first. We need to have proper food first.’

‘You sound like my mom,’ Tooru rolled his eyes at Hajime stuffing the last of his pastry in his mouth.

‘Whatever,’ Hajime opened the door to his room and Tooru burst in pushing Hajime out of the way. ‘Your room’s so cool Iwa-chan!’ Tooru gaped at Iwaizumi’s futuristic themed bedroom. Hajime liked his room, but having Tooru run around and checking out his stuff made him feel a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

He set their plates of food on his desk. Mazuki had prepared them a variety of rice and meat dishes along with generous helpings of vegetables (after she spotted all the food Tooru had selected -i.e. cakes and sweet breads-she made it a personal mission to make sure the two boys would have a balanced meal).

‘Iwa-chaaaan! Let’s play this!’ Tooru was waving around a game Hajime had forgotten he owned. Must have been one of the many birthday presents he’d stashed away.

‘We should eat first,’ Hajime was starving, he hadn't eaten much at lunch and the hunger had finally caught up with him. He had his chopsticks ready and just took whatever looked tastiest. 

‘Ouch Iwa- chan!’ Tooru glared at Hajime after he’d whacked Tooru’s fingers with his chopsticks.

‘Eat properly idiot,’ Hajime took the plate of cakes Tooru had been reaching for and placed it by his side. ‘You can have these later.’ Tooru stared at the cakes and then at Hajime’s raised eyebrow. He jutted his lower lip out, the same face that he had pulled on Old Mazumi.

‘Quit that, you look like a puffer fish.’ 

Tooru huffed and placed some noodles on his plate under Hajime’s watchful gaze. He exaggeratedly chewed on the noodles going as far to open his mouth to show the chewed up noodles much to Hajime’s disgust.

‘You’re gross Oikawa!’

Tooru grinned swallowing his noodles and using his sleeve to wipe his mouth. ‘Noooo,’ Tooru whined when Hajime placed some broccoli on his plate.

‘Eat.’

Tooru pulled a face but obediently ate, dramatically gagging as he did. Hajime had no idea what made him look after  the other boy, he didn't exactly care much for his peers. But with Tooru it was different. It felt right. Hajime couldn’t explain why, but it did.

‘Give me my cake Iwa-chan,’ Tooru demanded pointing at his now empty plate. Hajime conceded and placed the cakes back on the table which Tooru gleefully helped himself to. Hajime had a feeling Tooru would get sick with how quickly he shoved the cake in his face. It was disgusting and fascinating.

 

The boys spent the rest of their time playing games, both boys discovered just how much of a competitive streak the other had. They kept having rematches and at one point Hajime threw Tooru’s controller across the room when he kept on whinging after losing twice on Mario Kart. They were on their 6th game to determine the ‘official winner’ and Hajime had a feeling this would carry on unless he let Tooru win this round, and so he let him.

‘Ha! I wooon!’ Tooru was doing a victory dance that made Hajime move back a bit not wanting to get hit by those skinny arms. ‘Iwa-chan suuucks.’

‘Whatever,’ Hajime got up from the floor to turn his thermostat lower, he then went toward his balcony so he could close the doors and prevent the cool air from coming out when he spotted their jars of forgotten fireflies. ‘Oi Tooru, do you wanna go let them out?’

‘Yeah let’s go,’ Tooru took his jar and handed Hajime his. Hajime turned off all the lights to better see the fireflies when they let them out.

 

The two stepped outside on the balcony, the night was still, they could barely hear the sounds of the party. They looked at their jars for a few more moments until by unspoken agreement they twisted their jars open and watched as they slowly flew out.

Tiny lights hovered and twinkled in perfect synchronisation as the boys watched the small creatures in silent wonder. There was something in that moment, something intangible but Hajime felt so, so acutely.  

‘I think we should make a wish,’ Tooru whispered.

‘Yeah, I think we should.’ Hajime answered back just as quiet.

 Tooru closed his eyes first and Hajime took it as his cue to do the same a few seconds later.

 

Hajime would look back on this night years later, and the memory would be fuzzy, like looking through a raindrop, nothing’s very clear. But if there is one thing he’ll never forget -it’s that he didn’t make a wish.

 

He didn’t make a wish because he felt a gentle brush of fingers by his hand, and Hajime had interlaced them together.

 

He didn’t make a wish because he was too caught up thinking about Tooru’s hand in his and how he didn’t want to let it go.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The parents having a lot of parts in this chapter have a purpose later on, I promise! 
> 
> Also, I've taken down the previous chapter 2, I've realised there would be so many loose ends to the plot which would be hard to insert if I did that time jump. I am so sorry for the confusion and my hasty updates.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was one in the morning Mari followed Aiki upstairs so she could take Tooru home. Her and Touma had decided it was time for them to take their leave, more on Touma’s insistence really -her husband’s never been one to stay long for parties and he was especially not a fan of their host.

 

Her and Aiki had checked on the boys hours earlier when her worry began to grow over her missing son. It was quite normal for Tooru to wander off away from her and Touma as he’s never been one to shy away in new environments (he was far too confident and inquisitive for his age), but Tooru would always come and find her or Touma without fail to beg to go home, or give a quick hug or an update (usually unsolicited) of what he’s been up to, so when hours had gone by and she hadn’t seen Tooru at all a niggling sense of trepidation began to set in. She voiced her fears to Aiki and her friend reassured her that one of the staff had informed her that Tooru was with Hajime.

 

They found the boys huddled on the couch watching a film -well, they had a film on but they were bickering more than anything. ‘ _Idiot, they aren’t aliens!’ ‘Nu-uh Hajime just look at Mike, he’s green like those aliens’ ‘It’s called Monsters Inc!’_. Mari and Aiki observed the boys for a few more moments, they didn’t even notice their mothers were there, too absorbed in their argument. Mari was happy to see Tooru was getting along so well with Hajime, her own best friend’s son. She was already planning the numerous play dates her and Aiki could set up for the two which they could use for some much needed catching up sessions.

 

She expected to see the boys awake as Tooru tended to stay up in unfamilar places, but when they entered Hajime’s room the lights had been turned off with the exception of the soft glow from the bed light. It was quiet apart from the soft breaths coming from the bed. They were walking towards it when Mari stumbled on something, it was Tooru’s shoe, she also discovered the rest of her son’s evening wear had also been carelessly dumped on the floor mixed with what Mari assumed were Hajime’s clothes. It was such a typical thing for Tooru to just make himself at home, she sighed. 

‘Here, place them in this,’ Aiki had taken one of the storage bags kept in Hajime’s room and gave it to Mari. Aiki turned on the lights so she could also put away Hajime’s things, the boys didn’t even stir at the light.

‘Aww Aiki,would you look at that, they’re absolutely adorable.’ Mari muffled her squeal behind her hand before she whipped out her phone to silently take pictures of the boys.  Tooru was sprawled over most of the bed and Hajime was sleeping on his front. What caught their attention however, were their small hands still connected.   

Aiki too looked on the boys, it amazed her to see how well they got on (the staff and some guests did report two giggling little boys creating quite a ruckus). She was so pleased to see that her son had initiated the friendship without much intervention on her part. Hajime although by no means an antisocial child, was also a boy who was quite content to be on his own. Socialising with peers his own age had never been one of Hajime’s interest. And judging from how Hajime had even let Tooru into his personal space indicated that Hajime must have grown a significant attachment to Tooru.  Aiki thought that hell would have frozen over before he’d willingly let anyone else sleep in his bed. Her child was exhibiting very strong traits typical among Alphas. 

And it was this thought that filled her with a sense of dread as she took in the sleeping boys before her. What if… No.

Aiki squashed the thought down before it could take root. She studied her son’s face. He may look like his father, but he acted nothing like him, _Hajime was her son_.

 

Her attention shifted when when Tooru began to move, he let go of Hajime’s hand so he could tug at the blanket. Hajime, growled at feeling its warmth leave him. Her and Mari shared amused glances at the scene.

‘I better take my blanket hogger away,’ Mari had the urge to just hold her precious boy in her arms. She’d missed her little troublemaker.

 She was very careful not to wake Tooru as she slowly took him in her arms. Tooru tended to cry if his sleep gets disrupted and he would then spend then next half an hour bawling before he’d exhaust himself and pass out again (and neither Mari nor Touma were in the mood to listen to a crying Tooru). She held her breath when Tooru’s eyes opened and she had him in her arms. Please god no, let him fall back asleep. Tooru closed his eyes again and buried himself into her arms, a soft ‘Mommy’ escaping his lips. Distantly Mari could hear Aiki coo at Tooru.

 

Mari hugged Tooru close, shifting him in her arms so that she had a better hold over him. Aiki draped the sheets better over Hajime before stepping out of the room to join Mari. She was surprised to find that Tooru had Hajime’s pyjamas on -and it wasn’t just any set of pyjamas, it was Hajime’s absolute favourite. They made Hajime look like a little bug, it had wing prints at the back and their little hairlike legs for the bottoms. It had been a purchase Aiki had made last Christmas and it was the only set Hajime would wear. To see it on Tooru now made Aiki know without a doubt that it was Hajime who must have offered.

‘Well, Aiki, I better get going. This little one needs to be rushed home before he wakes up.’ Mari murmured above Tooru’s hair. 

‘Make sure to contact me for when you’re available I’m sure Hajime would love to see Tooru again.’

A soft sleep addled voice interrupted their conversation. ‘Mommy put me down,’ a very tired Tooru demanded, he wriggled around until Mari let him stand up. ‘I need to say goodbye to Iwa-chan,’ Tooru said and then made his way back into the room.

 

 _Iwa-chan?_ Aiki thought bemused. Mari wasn’t exaggerating when she said her boy never fails to make quite an impression.

‘Iwa-chan,’ Tooru shook Hajime awake. Hajime moved away from him and grunted. ‘Iwa-chaaaaan.’ Tooru blew air into his ear, and a very much asleep Hajime reached for his sheets and pulled them over his head.

 Tooru was pouting now and getting more and more annoyed by the minute. He climbed up the bed and draped himself over Hajime’s form before wriggling around until finally his efforts paid off and a half-awake Hajime popped his head out of the sheets

‘Huh?’ Hajime’s face was scrunched with confusion.

Tooru started whispering to Hajime as if trying to disturb him as little as he could, it caused Aiki and Mari to grin at how silly that was considering that he’d spent the past few minutes ruining Hajime’s sleep.

‘I have to go now. I’ll see you soon, okay?’ My Mommy’s promised your mommy that we’re gonna see you again.’ Despite how sleepy the boys were it wasn’t hard for their mothers to spot how happy Tooru and Hajime looked at the prospect of meeting once more.

‘Promise?’ Hajime stuck his pinky out, Tooru ignored it and threw himself over Hajime giving him a hug. ‘I promise Iwa-chan, let’s sleep now so tomorrow we can see each other okay?’

‘Okay,’ Hajime mumbled before letting go of Tooru and looking over at their mothers. ‘Aunty Mari, Mama, remember your promise.’

Aiki laughed at how shameless her son was being , ‘Alright Hajime, we’ll figure something out. Now say goodbye to your Aunt Mari, Hajime sleepily waved her goodbye and Mari couldn’t help but ruffle his hair.

‘Good night Hajime-chan, it’s been lovely to meet you.’ It indeed was, she could already see Hajime being a good influence to Tooru (I.e keeping her boy in line). He was such a well-mannered child, and she reckoned he would be quite a heartbreaker in the future. She waited for Tooru to give one more hug goodbye to Hajime and when he was finished he held his arms out expectantly for his mother to pick him up.

‘G’night Aunty Aiki’, Tooru moved his head from his mother’s shoulder so he could kiss Aiki’s cheek. Aiki’s heart melted at the gesture, already she had grown very fond of Tooru.

‘Good night Tooru,’ he missed the gentle smile that Aiki sent his way, his head was resting on Mari’s shoulder, energy completely depleted.

‘Did we just get manipulated by a seven  year old?’ Aiki was impressed at how Tooru had managed to get what he wanted with ease. He was adorable now but she could already see how terrifying he could be with a couple more years.

‘I told you Tooru can be a manipulative little you-know-what’, Mari sighed and resigned herself into calling Aiki first thing in the morning to see when they could schedule a play date.

 

* * *

 

‘Mommy is Iwa-chan coming now?’ Tooru asked for the umpteenth time.

 

Mari rolled her eyes feeling the beginnings of a headache emerging. It’s been three days after the party and that question had been on repeat ever since. Mari knew that Aiki wasn’t faring to well either based on the phone call they’ve just had. Hajime’s been on her mother’s case as well about seeing Tooru again. 

‘Honey we’ve talked about this, Aunty Aiki won’t be dropping off Iwa-chan until after lunch.’ Mari explained with the years of patience she’s developed from raising Oikawa Tooru. Today was meant to be a relaxing day off duty but that’s flown out the window after Tooru had jumped on her bed at Seven. Fucking. AM. Screaming _-‘Iwa-chan’s coming today! Get up Mommy!’_. 

 

She honestly wondered if maybe Tooru would turn into a late presenting Alpha, he didn’t have the mild-mannered behaviour of a beta, nor the submissiveness of an omega. Then again, there were always outliers, and if anyone would be an outlier, Tooru would.  ‘Why don’t you go outside and play volleyball baby?’ She asked in the attempt to distract Tooru until Aiki went by to drop off Hajime. 

 

Tooru shook his head from where he was sitting on the kitchen stool. ‘It’s no fun when Daddy’s not here to toss the ball back.’ He perked up all of a sudden, ‘Mommy why don’t you play with me?’

‘I’m making lunch baby, so not now,’ Mari noticed Tooru’s crestfallen face and suggested Tooru can help with washing the rice for her.  

‘Hmm…okay!’ Tooru hopped off the barstool and Mari passed him the rice. It wasn’t long before mother and son were humming in tandem and the aromatic scents of their cooking filled the air.

‘What are you and Iwa-chan going to do when he gets here Tooru?’

‘Im going to teach Iwa-chan how to play volleyball!’ Tooru threw his arms up in the air excited at the prospect of teaching his new friend. ‘He doesn't play it Mommy,’ he shook his head sadly, as if the idea of Hajime never playing volleyball was heart-breaking, and Mari supposed her son probably did see it that way. ‘Iwa-chan said his daddy makes him play games like chess and tennis but they sound dumb compared to volleyball!’  Mari held back a laugh at how indignant Tooru sounded. 

‘Tooru baby, not everyone  will find volleyball more awesome than other games, so if Iwa-chan doesn't  like it as much as you do, you should try and do something else.’ There have been more than one playdates that have ended disastrously with Tooru, because his playdate would refuse to play volleyball with him. It’s gotten better as he’s grown older, Tooru would display enough tact -not to make the other child or children cry- for the duration that they were together, then once they leave Tooru would promptly declare something along the lines of: ‘ _I never want to play with them again! They called volleyball stupid! Well, they’re the dumb ones!’_

‘You’re right, Iwa-chan might not like volleyball.’ Tooru looked like he found this prospect terrifying, he then rushed off, little footsteps running up the stairs before Mari could say anything. She wondered what on earth was going through his head.

He came back with some paper and his crayons. 

'What have you got there darling?'

'I need to write what I’m going to do with Iwa-chan if he doesn’t like volleyball.’

 Mari was surprised at the gesture. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was her son finally maturing and learning to compromise. There were a lot of times she felt out of depth in how to raise a child, no parenting book ever prepares you for having one and Tooru...well. Tooru can be scarily stubborn. There’s a single-minded determination in him that at times worries her and Touma; it’s the kind that rams straight through with no consideration for the damage or relationships. Tooru was well-liked enough by his peers, but Tooru never reciprocated that, he got along with them, but it was apparent to her and Touma that Tooru only ever spoke about them in passing, like he didn’t find them interesting enough…Until Hajime. She was intrigued to see how they’d interact later.

‘That’s nice of you Tooru,’ Mari ruffled his hair fondly. ‘How about…’ They spent the rest of the time bouncing off ideas and Tooru would carefully write it down in his 'neatest' kanji.

 ‘Well I think that’s a long enough list baby,’ Mari said after half an hour of brainstorming with Tooru. And it indeed was, it made her tired just looking at it. ‘You think so Mommy?’ Tooru asked looking unsure. ‘I know so Tooru,’ she doubted even two hyperactive seven year olds could do any of that without passing out from exhaustion at the end.

The time after they’ve had lunch went by much more quickly. Before Mari knew it she was waving Aiki goodbye and Tooru had taken off running dragging Hajime with him.

Tooru took them Hajime to his room, he’d prepped everything for his explanation on volleyball to Hajime, coloured diagrams and all (he’d rehearsed it to his action figures twice). He was barely on to his second page when Hakime interrupted him all of a sudden.

’Yes?’ 

‘What’s that?’ Hajime asked pointing at a circle with spikes coming out.

‘Oh, that’s you Iwa-chan.’ Tooru said like it should be obvious to  Hajime.

‘Hey how come I don’t even get a body and you have a uniform and everything!’ Hajime pointed at Tooru’s figure that was drawn with a lot more care and was dressed in the Japan’s volleyball team uniform.

He grabbed Tooru’s diagram and started drawing a new figure of himself much to Tooru’s chagrin.

‘Nooo Iwa-chaaan don’t mess up my drawings!’ Tooru whined and kept trying to tug it back from Hajime. ‘No Tooru let me finish!’ Hajime pushed Tooru away so he could finish his drawing.

‘Iwa-chan quit it! I need to explain volleyball to you so we can start playing!’ Tooru had wrapped his arms around Hajime trying to make him stop. Eventually Hajime got tired of it and grabbed the diagram and a handful of crayons before running to Tooru’s bathroom and locking it.

‘Iwa-chaaan! Come out!’ Tooru kept knocking at the door.

‘I’ll come out when I’m finished!’ Hajime yelled back.

‘You’re mean! Stupid  Iwa-chan!’ Tooru huffed and sat down when he didn’t hear a reply, only the light scuffling of Hajime moving around. Eventually Hajime did emerge, very smug with his changes. ‘You can start again now,’he handed the paper back to Tooru.

‘Iwa-chan why are you dressed like batman! You can’t play volleyball with a cape and a mask!’

‘I only managed to grab black and yellow,’ Hajime shrugged. ‘And batman’s cool.’

‘I still think it’s stupid.’

 

Fortunately for Tooru, Hajime was a lot more cooperative after that and it wasn’t long until they were outside, Tooru leading the stretches. ‘We have to stretch properly Iwa-chan, we might get injured if we don’t.’ Tooru said in that smart-ass tone Hajime was growing more used to. ‘I know what stretching is.'

‘Hmpf,’ he ignored Hajime and continued to give a commentary the whole time and Hajime grudgingly followed along. Tooru reminded him of those exercise people on TV. _He just wouldn’t stop talking_.

Tooru taught Hajime the basics after -as much as he could remember from trainings. How to control the ball better, tosses, receiving, but Hajime’s favourite -was spiking. And Tooru kept on encouraging him to do it, just as enthusiastic to toss to Hajime.

Hajime took a few steps back before running forward as Tooru had instructed him.

‘Now!’ Tooru yelled tossing the ball up. Hajime kept his eyes on the ball jumping as high as he could before swinging his arm forward to try and slam the ball down. Hajime had lost count of how many times they’ve tried this. The first few attempts to spike the ball with Tooru were awkward, he couldn’t even touch the ball at first. But now, he could feel his whole hand wrapping around the ball and he felt invincible every time. He wanted to hit Tooru’s tosses, again and again.

‘Did we score?’ Hajime asked not quite understanding the mechanics of the game yet.

‘No,’ Tooru said, their ball had hit outside the court. ‘But we did it!!! We got the ball across the net! We just need to practise some more Iwa chan!’’

‘Toss to me again Tooru!’ Hajime said already running to the back ready to give another go.

 

 

* * *

 

 

‘Tooru, Hajime-chan, that’s enough volleyball for today,’ Mari called out. They’ve been going at it for hours, this was the first time she’d ever seen anyone keep up with Tooru and his obsession with volleyball.

‘Mom just a while longer please,’ Tooru pleaded with her and Hajime joined in.

‘Sorry boys, it’s dinner time. You know I don’t think your Aunty Aiki will let Hajime come as often if you eat dinner late.’ Sure enough, that did the trick and both boys were running into the house. 

‘Aren’t you going to eat your carrots and greens?’ Hajime pointed at the pile of veggies on Tooru’s plate. ‘No.’ Hajime looked at Tooru and raised an eyebrow, ‘fine then, I’ll grow taller than you when we’re older.’

‘Nu-uh! I’ll grow taller than you Iwa-chan!’ Tooru shoved his vegetables in his mouth determined, he’d down massive gulps of his drink with every bite. Little dramatic shudders after he’d finish swallowing, all the while Hajime looked on looking very pleased at Tooru.

Mari will have to ask Aiki to let Hajime come over more often. He would love for him and Tooru to grow closer. He was a mature boy for his age and her belief that he'd make an excellent friend to her son hadn't wavered at all.

When deserts came and Mari denied Tooru his third serving of trifle, she did however, act like she hadn’t seen how Hajime slid over his portion to Tooru. ‘because you ate your veggies’, he offered in explanation to Tooru. You’re the best Iwa-chan!’ Tooru hugged Hajime and Mari noted how red he turned.

 

Perhaps he cared a little bit more, Mari thought gleefully. It was adorable how Hajime was crushing on Tooru.

 

After dinner they tried to go play outside again but Mari refused, it was raining outside.

‘But it’s only light rain Mommy!’ Tooru protested, I’ll let Iwa-chan borrow my raincoat!’

‘Tooru you might get sick,’ Hajime said, and Mari smiled at him. ‘Traitor,’ Tooru hissed and Hajime elbowed him.

‘Wanna build a fort?’ Hajime suggested after a beat of silence.

‘Yeah!’ Let’s go Iwa-chan!!!’

Mari felt whiplash as she watched the kids go, bouncing and clearly excited over their next undertaking , just mere seconds after they looked absolutely devastated.

The two dismantled the couches, taking away the cushions to create their ‘walls’, the coffee table was moved and some of the chairs helped form the structure.

‘Hajime, go get the blankets and pillows from my room.’ Tooru waved him off.

‘And what are you going to do?’ Hajime was getting slightly fed up with Tooru’s constant bossing around. 

‘I’m going to go take Mommy and a Daddy’s stuff.’ Hajime was happy with the distribution of the workload and ran upstairs taking Tooru’s blanket, his duvet, and as much of the pillows he could carry.

The combined weight and bulk of what he was carrying were manageable at first it was when he was halfway through the stairs, that his arms began to give up and he couldn’t see the steps because of the pile he was holding. He was about to drop the weight when he felt his foot catch on Tooru’s duvet and he lost his balance. He tried to regain his footing but his other foot got caught his time, in that that split second Hajime knew he was gonna fall, he could only squeeze his eyes shut to brace for the impact when he felt someone hold him steady.

‘Woah there’, a strong gentle voice spoke to him. He still couldn’t see the man over the pile of linen and pillows he was carrying. He did however catch the scent of an adult Alpha, but he was emanating strong waves of reassurance which stopped Hajime from instinctively baring his neck in the presence of an unfamiliar Alpha. ‘You good?’ He asked and Hajime gave a muffled yes in reply.

‘Let me get that for you’, the voice offered and Hajime was grateful when the weight was removed from him.

He came face to face with a handsome face which bore a lot of resemblance to Tooru's; he could see now where Aunty Mari’s features ended on Tooru and where his father’s began.

'Thank you Mr Oikawa-san, umm sir.' Hajime said stumbling over his words suddenly feeling very aware of how silly he must appear.

'No need for formalities,’ he laughed already warming up to the young boy. ‘Call me Uncle Touma. ‘You must be Hajime?’ He smiled kindly at him and offered his hand which Hajime timidly shook.  Somehow Uncle Touma really reminded him a lot of doctors.

Touma laughed all of a sudden and Hajime wondered what he found amusing. ‘I am a doctor,’ Uncle Touma clarified and Hajime realised he must have been mumbling out loud. ‘A very astute observation,’ he winked at him and offered to help Hajime carry it to the mess that was the living room.

Hajime trailed after him and politely answered the questions Uncle Touma asked him along the way, it helped him feel more and more at ease. He couldn’t help but notice how different Tooru’s father was compared to his.

If it was Tooru in Hajime’s place and Father ran across Tooru in such a silly state, he would have narrowed his eyes at Tooru, much like he did with Hajime all the time. He would have then said something along the lines of 'you should think things through before you do it', in that tone of his that always made Hajime feel like he was always a failure before he’d dismiss him.

Tooru was lucky, he thought as he stole a glance at Uncle Touma, and the scene that played out before him when Tooru spotted them coming only re-enforced his opinion.

‘Daddy!!!’ Tooru dropped the section of the fort he was working on and ran to Touma. He hugged Touma  around the waist and Touma dropped the things he was carrying so he could crouch down and hug Tooru close, giving him a kiss on the crown of his head and stating how much he had missed his son .

Hajime kept his eyes on the floor, feeling very much like an outsider. His heart ached, he started to yearn for something he hadn’t known he was even missing.

 

‘I’ll go speak to your Mommy, you and Iwa-chan carry on.’ Touma ruffled Tooru’s hair and gave Hajime a smile before leaving them to their own devices.

 

 The fort they built was impressive, ridiculously cozy inside thanks to their collection of duvets and blankets, throw pillows were also scattered around. They only had one entrance, ‘So we’ll feel it when someone comes in Iwa-chan’. Hajime agreed and the two even set up a security system of a thin thread that would ring a bell tied at the end.  They had snacks on one end, two milk boxes and one pack each of Tooru’s favourite snacks.

 

‘This will last us forever!’ Tooru came back in wearing a proud grin after he’d succeeded in raiding the kitchen pantry without getting caught. Hajime started at the food he brought, Fluff, Oreos, chocolates…

 

‘Yeah, if we don’t die of diabetes first. I'm getting a banana,’ he inforned Tooru  and crawled out. Tooru merely swallowed a spoonful of Fluff and waved at Hajime. 'Mmm ee you.' He spoke mouth  full of marshmallow.

 

As Hajime made his way to the kitchen, he had the chance to take in his surroundings on his own. There were pictures littered everywhere in the Oikawa home. There weren’t any pictures in his house, not the same candid ones Tooru’s family had -Tooru as a wrinkled infant cradled in Aunty Mari’s arms, Tooru as a fat little toddler pouting and Uncle Touma trying to get him to smile again...There were so many more but his throat began to hurt, and he had to force himself to look away.

He didn’t really feel like getting those bananas anymore...so he made his way back to the fort and sat next to Tooru.

 

‘You were quick,’ Tooru opened the blanket on his end and gestured for Hajime to come close. He sidled up to Tooru and secretly really liked it when Tooru rested his head on his shoulder immediately. ‘Get off,’ Hajime half-heartedly tried to make him stop, feeling nervous and really self-conscious. ‘No,’ Tooru took it as a challenge and hugged Hajime leaning his body weight over him.

‘Tooruuu,’ Hajime sighed and kept shaking him off but Tooru stayed latched on and Hajime resigned himself to it, occasionally poking Tooru’s ribs but with no effect. He only removed himself off Hajime about half an hour later, Hajime was surprised Tooru held off that long. Tooru’s back must feel strained from staying in that position, but the stubborn idiot did it anyway.

 

‘What are you doing?’ Hajime watched as Tooru laid down on the duvet, placing his head on Hajime’s thigh. ‘Go away.’ He moved his thigh quickly and Tooru’s head went smack on the floor. ‘Oww,’ Tooru sniffed and hid his face behind his arms clutching at his head.

'You didn't hit your head that hard,' Hajime's tone was gruff but the way he tried prying off Tooru’s arms so he could check the damage betrayed the worry he felt.

This was the second time he’s done this. What if Tooru never wants to see him again? He keeps hurting him. 

Hajime's efforts paid off and Tooru moved his arms to his side and let Hajime check his head. ‘You’re fine, you big baby,’ Hajime brushed Tooru’s hair back, he inwardly heaved a sigh of relief when Tooru’s eyes stopped being glassy. He'd be in so much trouble if he made him cry. 

He was back to square one though, with a lapful of Tooru’s head but  time he found himself running his hands through Tooru’s hair as well, who was clearly enjoying every minute of Hajime’s attentions.

Tooru’s eyes were closed, humming a contented little tune. Just like an old grandma, Hajime snorted at the thought.

He kept playing with Tooru’s hair, taking the chance to stare at Tooru without the other boy noticing. Tooru was captivating, everything about him made Hajime want to stay with him and know him better. 

‘You boys alright?’

Hajime quickly dropped his arms and looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Mari struggled to keep a straight face on, not wanting to make Hajime feel uncomfortable.

‘We’re okay, Mommy,’ Tooru reached for Hajime’s hands and placed them back on his head. ‘That felt nice Iwa-chan.’

‘Tooru, stop forcing Iwa-chan to stroke your hair,’ Mari scolded him, she knew how tactile her son was. ‘But Iwa-chan doesn’t mind Mommy,’ Tooru innocently answered and looked at Hajime expectantly. Hajime rolled his eyes at Tooru. ‘I don’t mind Aunty,’ he said as sincerely as he could.

‘You tell me or your Uncle Touma if Tooru’s bullying you okay?’ Mari said before leaving them alone.

‘Me? Bullying?’ Tooru got up affronted. ‘Iwa-chan I’m not a bully am I? If anything you’re the bully.’ Hajime flicked Tooru’s forehead not even surprised at his lack of awareness, ‘Who you calling a bully, you bully.’

‘Hey I’m really nice!’ Tooru declared fiercely. ‘Sure you are Tooru,’ Hajime started patting Tooru’s head a bit roughly after the shameless child made himself comfortable on Hajime’s lap again. ‘I'm the nicest kid ever,  I even have a ribbon to prove it.'

‘Anyone with a brain knows those ribbons are bogus, dummy.' 

Hajime's tone was harsh  but he was running his fingers through his hair much more gently, so Tooru knew Hajime wasn't  actually trying to pick a fight. Tooru had figured out that Hajime wasn't  much for words, it was how he acted that conveyed how he truly felt.

'Iwa-chan, be my best friend.' 

Hajime flicked Tooru's forehead, 'you can't just order me to be your best friend you numpty.'

'Why not?' Tooru asked genuinely bewildered.

Hajime paused, he doesn't  understand much about this best friend thing. He tried to think about what his classmates at school said about best friends. 'Well, best friends would  have to know each other for a very long time.' Tooru eyebrows scrunched up. 'Okay, well how long should we know each other before we can be best friends?'

Hajime thought for a minute. 'A month', he finally said. A month seemed like a suitably long period of time.

'So you'll  be my best friend after a month.' Tooru nodded, that would be about thirty sleeps before him and Hajime could be best friends.

'But we would also have to like being together all the time and doing everything together.' Hajime pointed out. The terms would have to be set out properly in any agreement, Father had taught him that since he was old enough to speak.

'I like spending time the most with Iwa-chan,' Tooru declared  with as much conviction a seven year old  could have. 'Don't you like spending time with me?' Tooru's brows were furrowed, like he'd just realised maybe Hajime didn't like him after all.

'I do', Hajime admitted quietly. 'I do like spending time with you.' 

'Then you'll be my best friend, and we'll play volleyball together forever.' Tooru said matter-of-factly.

 

Everything was simple for Tooru, a done deal before Hajime had even agreed to it.

‘We can’t play volleyball forever, silly,’ 

‘I can if you’ll stay with me,’ Tooru believed it, Hajime could hear the simple trust he had for him. I’ll set for you, and you’ll hit all my tosses.’  

To be wanted by someone like Tooru to stay with him, for Tooru to have already imagined a future where Hajime would be in it. 

‘I’ll be your best friend.' Hajime finally said and Tooru smiled up at him, it lit up his whole face and Hajime found himself smiling right back. 'In a month,' he added. But Tooru's smile hadn't deterred one bit. 

* * *

 

‘They alright?’ Touma asked Mari without looking up from his notes.

‘Tooru was making Hajime stroke his hair,’ Mari laughed and Touma joined in. ‘I sometimes feel like we have a hyperactive puppy and not a son sometimes,’ he joked.

‘He’s lovely isn’t he?’ Touma knew she wasn’t referring to Tooru, but the young Iwaizumi.

‘Alright, I was wrong,’ he threw his arms up. ‘Hajime’s nothing like that bastard.’ Touma knew Takashi Iwaizumi, they went to the same boarding school. He was the definition of a traditional Alpha -in essence - acomplete ‘dickhead’. Takashi treated anyone he didn’t deem on the same standing as him like shit. If it wasn’t for his family name, Touma knew Takashi might have put him through the same crap some of his unfortunate peers did. Touma didn’t think he could sink any lower, but then he’d heard about what happened to Aiki…It still made his blood churn. If it wasn’t for Mari’s close friendship with Aiki he would never have stepped foot at the party.

‘I think he might be crushing on Tooru,’ Mari gushed breaking him from his musings. Touma can’t say he’s surprised, he remembered when Tooru was around five, he came home crying. _‘Daddy, a girl gave me cootiiiiies.’_ And it kept carrying on, he wished, deep down, that Tooru is showing signs of Presenting as an Alpha. But Tooru seemed to be taking it in stride now. _‘I made him cry, he said he wanted to marry me and I told him to dream on because he’s ugly and stupid.’_

Mari giggled and Touma’s eyes narrowed. He knew that look, she had that face on when she’s rooting for a couple in one of her Korean dramas. ‘No. Mari, please don’t start match-making our seven year old child.’

‘I said no such thing!’ Touma crossed his arms across his chest and looked at her. ‘But they’re just so cute together!’ And Touma inwardly couldn’t help but agree, he’d seen how the two interacted; Hajime doted on Tooru, and he could see that Tooru would keep stealing glances at Hajime to make sure he wasn’t getting fed up with him. Which was a first, for Tooru, his son normally couldn’t care less what his playmates felt about him.

'Not until Tooru’s at least twenty.’ Touma said half-jokingly.  He’s not completely adverse to Hajime but it’s too early to even think about things like this. He wanted Tooru to stop growing at six, he’ll keep him as his baby for as long as he can.

‘So you like Hajime!’ Mari clapped her hands catching his slip.

‘I said no such thing.’ Touma threw back her words, a twinkle in his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overuse of the word dick and shit.

 

‘Oh god…’ Hajime groaned, the pounding headache he’d been experiencing since he'd come home after school hadn’t receded one bit, in fact it was even worse. He struggled to go to the side of his bed as he felt a wave of nausea from the sudden onslaught of overpowering scents all around him. He retched, the heaving motion serving to intensify his sickness, he didn’t even manage to grab his waste basket when he expelled what little contents his stomach had on the floor, he felt vaguely bad for the housekeeper.

  
‘Crap.’ The smell of his own bile was now added into the growing mixture that made him want to hurl his guts out.

  
The headache and the scents were becoming too much for him. He rummaged his bedside drawer for aspirin, he took it dry and laid down again as he tried not to concentrate on the pain, to no avail, another wave of pain had him clutching at his sheets. Just when he thought it would never end, he blacked out. His last thought was perhaps he should have said something to the staff before he'd locked himself into his room.

 

 

Hajime woke up to the sound of voices but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. He opened his eyes and everything was a blur. It was like he was submerged in water, he felt so heady and weightless. He wanted to sleep, he was just so tired.  
A shake to his shoulders kept him from falling asleep.

  
‘Hajime.’ A voice called to him, it sounded so familiar.

  
He sniffed to try and get the scent to help jog his memory. He couldn’t smell anything though, it was a bit odd, he was breathing fine but the air was scentless.

  
He flinched when a finger lifted his eyelid and shone a light on his eye.

  
‘That’s good, give him a moment and he should come back to us.’ Hajime barely registered the words but the sounds were becoming more audible.

  
‘Hajime. Hajime can you hear me?’ A different voice asked, Hajime looked to the direction of the voice. He had to blink a few times until the hazy figure became clear.

  
‘Dr. Fujiro?’ Hajime recognised the face of their family doctor, beside him stood his mother, concern etched on both their features.

  
‘Ah young Iwaizumi-san,’ he spoke gently to Hajime. ‘You had your mother worried. How are you feeling?’

  
‘Bit strange,’ Hajime’s voice felt rough to his own ears. He cleared his throat a few times and swallowed. ‘What happened to me?’ He nodded gratefully when the doctor passed him a glass of water. He waited until Hajime put down the glass before speaking.

  
‘Well, you’ve Presented as an Alpha.’ The elderly doctor paused, waiting for Hajme to process the information. ‘I’m sure you’ve been aware that you’d Present as one…’ Dr Fujiro kept talking but Hajime had drowned out whatever he was saying.

All he could focus on was.

Presentation.

Alpha. 

 

He knew he was going to Present as an Alpha. But when he was around eighteen, not fucking thirteen. They had barely even covered Presenting in their school Sex Ed classes.

  
He thought it had all been a fluke. The heightened sense of smell, the throbbing in his head, the - Hajime flushed from embarrassment, he pushed the memory to the back of his mind.

This wasn’t normal…

  
‘What’s wrong with me?’ Hajime tried to keep his voice steady but his words came out small and unsure. Exactly how he felt.

Dr Fujiro eyed him with sympathy. The Young Iwaizumi had always been apt for his age, he’d reacted just as he’d expected, with wariness rather than the excitement of an egotistical adolescent. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you Hajime-san.’ He stressed to the child. ‘Your case, however, is very rare. Alphas don’t present until later adolescence, as you know. Your problem is that your body isn’t physically developed enough to handle the sudden changes to it. Your free will, so to speak, will be overridden by the neurochemicals simulated by the Alpha gene-‘

  
‘So you’ll what? Put me on drugs?’

  
‘That,’ the doctor nodded. ‘But also therapy sessions. You will need help with your control mentally and physically.’

  
‘If I may be frank Aiki-san,’ he looked at Hajime’s mother for permission to disclose all the details of Hajime’s early Presentation with him. He was after all, still a minor. She nodded her consent and Dr Fujiro continued. ‘Our concern is your lack of control Hajime-san.’

  
‘Alphas are known for their power and sheer tenacity which helps them become natural leaders and overachievers, but this is also because they are more in tune to their basic instincts compared to the other Orientations. Thanks to evolution, Alphas have become better at curbing these basic instincts, as an Alpha grows older they have adapted to form a response pathway of sorts that allows their brain to prevent their instincts from fully kicking in -allowing a window of reasoning to occur. Because you have Presented so young however, means that you haven’t developed this response pathway. You will find it extremely difficult to fight your instincts compared to if you Presented later on.’

  
‘So you’re essentially saying I’m in danger of becoming a slave to my instincts.’

  
‘Crudely put -but in essence, yes.’ Dr Fujiro nodded solemnly. ‘You are a danger to your peers without the proper medication and therapy. The worst thing that could happen is that your lack of control will cause you to initiate a premature bond by impulsively giving the mating bite to someone you recognise as a potential mate.’

  
Hajime understood what Dr Fujiro was speaking of. Alphas were the only Orientation that could initiate a bond by giving the bite. However, given how early he’s Presented, any potential mate of his would be Unpresented (they would either Present as a beta or an omega later on) -thus a ‘premature bond’. Premature bonds were always detrimental for it always resulted in the Unpresented individual losing their sanity; they become completely stripped of their identity as a person, so consumed by the bond and their Alpha. They eventually become a shell of the person they once were and they never recover, in extreme cases they die of starvation as they refuse to eat.

  
Premature bonding is viewed as one of the most heinous of crimes, considered both statutory rape and murder. Alphas who initiate premature bonding have always been sentenced to death or life imprisonment. To think that he might be capable of doing that scared the shit out of Hajime.

  
Dr Fujiro saw the weight of the information take its toll on the Young Iwaizumi. ‘Like I’ve said previously Hajime-san, the intervention of drugs and therapy sessions will help you from losing control in your early transition, in the future you’ll eventually have no need for them anymore.’

  
‘You’ll be fine Hajime,’Aiki took one of his hands in hers rubbing it in what she hoped gave him some comfort. He was far too young to deal with this all. Hajime squeezed her hand, ‘I know Mother, don’t worry about me.’

It was such an expected thing for her son to say, always placing the worries of others above his own, why was this his burden to bear? And for so young an age.

  
Dr Fujiro spent some time explaining the medication Hajime would be placed on, including the one they’d injected on him when they found him passed out. ‘The throbbing headaches you’ve had were due to an overload of stimulus your body suddenly picked up after your Presentation. I’ve prescribed you a drug that will dull your olfactory senses so you may carry on with your normal activities, however at home most of the areas you frequent will be scent-proofed so you aren’t completely dependent on the drug.’

  
‘Do you have any pressing concerns Hajime-san?’ 

  
Hajime racked his brain, there was a niggling voice in his head telling him he was forgetting something. Then he remembered his _other_ problem and he wished he hadn't. ‘What about my...urges.’ He whispered the last word so quietly that he was afraid that he’d have to repeat it again, like this wasn't embarrassing enough.

  
Thankfully the doctor's hearing was still very much in working order despite his old age.‘Ahh, for that I've also prescribed you some tablets.’ Dr Fujiro said his face straight, showing no acknowledgement of how Hajime was behaving so awkwardly. Hajime did suppose that they must have given him something. The drowsiness he’s feeling must be a side effect. ‘I’ll review you after a few months to see your progress, and should your control be better, we may place you on less potent drugs, or lower the dosage.’

  
He asked once more if he had anymore queries to which Hajime responded with a shake of his head. He had a few more minutes of discussion with his Mother, after which the doctoe took his leave.

  
Once they were alone Aiki gave Hajime a short hug that took him slightly by surprise. His Mother had stopped hugging him after his tenth birthday, she never did show much physical attention even before, he suspected it was more to do with Father’s influence. Hajime as an Alpha in the making and his heir shouldn’t be coddled too much, _‘I hope you cease that behaviour Aiki, it won’t do for him to be too soft’._

  
‘Does Father know?’ He asked her once she let go of him.

  
She gave him a tight smile. ‘Yes, he’s still in the middle of a   meetings, but he told me to pass on that he’s very pleased about your Presentation.’

  
Hajime snorted, he could imagine his father saying something completely alpha-chauvinistic to his mother like: ‘I’ve expected nothing less of my son.’ He might even open a bottle of his favourite whisky later, congratulate his testicles for doing such a marvellous job.

  
‘No concerns over the fact that I Presented abnormally young is there?’ Hajime asked bitterly, his mother didn’t even give him a response to that. ‘Prick.’

  
‘Never mind your father,’ Aiki stirred the conversation away from Takashi. ‘What bothers me is that if it wasn’t for your Aunty Mari ringing me to ask if you were fine, I would have never known you’d Presented! I wouldn’t have found you unconscious on your bed until the next day when your school had informed me that you haven’t shown up!’

  
Hajime felt awful for doing this to her, she was normally so composed but now he could see how much he’d made her worry. He can’t even imagine how frantic she must have been to find him passed out and unresponsive. Her hair was all mussed, like she hadn’t even bothered to comb it for hours, her dress was also quite wrinkled, it was the same one she’d been wearing Tuesday morning before he left for school, it was mid-morning Wednesday now.

  
‘If I found you a few hours later than I have, you could have gone into shock Hajime,’ some tears had escaped her eyes. ‘Did you not feel that you could come to me about this?’

  
‘No,’ Hajime was quick to shut down any of his mother’s fears that perhaps she wasn’t a good enough parent or that he somehow couldn’t trust her. ‘It’s not that I couldn’t approach you, I just didn’t know what was going on. I thought if I slept it off I’d be able to think a bit more clearly about it.’ That was actually his rationale  as stupid as it sounds. He thought he’d tell Mother the following morning, what he didn’t expect was for his headache to get out of hand and for the sensory explosion in the evening. ‘I swear, I would have told you.’

  
‘Don’t do that again Hajime,’ his mother thankfully had stopped crying. ‘If you feel anything odd, if you feel remotely sick or off, you tell me straight away.’ He nodded to her. ‘You promise me Hajime, especially now that you’re going to need to work on your control.’

  
‘I promise.’

  
She fussed over him a bit more, she didn’t leave him until he finished every bit of his soup and crackers. It was sweet, he couldn’t remember the last time his mother babied him. He was enjoying the attention until it became overbearing. There's only so much contact a teenager can handle with their parent after all, and he shooed her away claiming a headache. 

  
He spent the rest of his morning finishing homework due for the week, he did some advanced revision for the semester; not that there was much left, he’d covered most of it in the summer. Still, he just needed to occupy his mind with something to do.

  
Somehow, he couldn’t shake this feeling of restlessness, he hadn’t really noticed it at first, but all alone it was just there. It was like he had a thought at the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite grasp. It was the oddest thing.

  
He was flipping through his notes when it occurred to him that he should probably send his friends a text to let them know he won’t be coming in for a few days. He reached for his bag to rummage for his phone which he felt at the bottom. 

  
It still had a bit of battery left, when he opened it he was alerted to a number of missed calls and texts. They were mostly texts of ‘Congratulations’ from people at school, he had to pause for a minute and wonder how the hell did they find out because he didn’t know for sure until this morning.

  
Then it came back to him.

  
Fuck.

  
He turned red from mortification remembering the incident in the club changing room just after volleyball practise.

 

_He’d just replaced his shorts for some jogging pants and he wondered why everyone’s attention focused on him. It wasn’t even subtle staring on their part, they were eyeing Hajime’s crotch like he forgot to tuck his dick in. When one of the upperclassmen started pointing that’s when he finally looked down._

_His initial thought had been, why the heck do these pants have so much padding around his junk. And why was it so pointy, like he shoved a coke can in there and forgot all about it._

_He tried adjusting it not really dwelling on it when he became abruptly shocked as his hand came into contact with his dick._

_What the fuck?_

_His brain had gone on to autopilot at that point and Hajime slowly stretched the waist of his pants to check his dick._

_There at the end of it, was a fucking knot._

  
_Hanamaki whistled, having seen a glimpse of Iwa-jr. He’d sidled up next to Hajime who hadn’t even noticed he was there, too caught up in his internal crisis to realise he had an audience next to him. ‘You sure know how to give the rest of us a complex Iwaizumi.’_

_Hajime pushed Hanamaki away startled, ‘Don’t look!’_

_‘Bit late now.’ Hanamaki sniggered without any sympathy or qualms from the glare that Hajime sent him._

_Hajime_ _was so damn thankful he hadn’t bothered to drag Tooru with him to get ready to go home. He was still in the gym training with Matsukawa, he_ _couldn’t imagine how much more embarrassing this would have been if Tooru had witnessed this all._

_'Right,’ Naoki, the vice-captain to their Junior High team clapped his hands together. ‘Show’s over, the kid’s popped a knot. So will half of you in the next five years, feel free to stare at yours as long as you want when that day comes.’ He stared all their teammates down until they carried on like nothing happened._

_Naoki thumped his back, ‘You should head home Iwaizumi, you don’t wanna be near anyone when you fully Present.’ He’d also Presented as an Alpha a few months ago, just after his sixteenth birthday._ _He’d earned a lot more attention after that and Hajime could see he didn’t really appreciate it._

 

Probably why Naomi-san looked after him yesterday, Hajime mused to himself. He looked at his screen and noticed that one of the messages was from the vice captain . It was a brief text, just an offer of advise if he ever needed it and a link. Curious, he opened it. Hajime blushed when he found the contents of the site, he quickly closed it down and looked around his room though knowing full well he was on his own.

  
Naoki-san had sent him the website to a high-end shop catering to the needs of Alphas. The last thing on his mind right now was what kinds of sex toys were best suited to take his knot. When Naoki-san was advising him to go home early it was because he’d assumed Hajime was going to be painfully horny in a few more hours. What he didn’t know was whatever arousal Hajime felt after popping his first knot would be quickly killed off by the worst fucking headache Hajime’s had in his entire life. Thankfully the drugs Dr Fujiro prescribed him also curbed the perpetual arousal that Alphas get for the first few weeks. It was bad enough he’d struggle with behavioural control, but awkward boners in class would be too much for him.

He’d texted a quick thanks, not really knowing what else to say.

  
He texted Hanamaki back as well, saying it was all good between them, he’d apologised to Hajime for being an asshole.

He smiled when he saw how many texts  Turoo sent him. Hajime was just about to open one of them when his phone started ringing.

  
My Tooru ❤ calling…

Hajime snorted, of course, his day doesn't even go halfway without Tooru somehow winding him up. He wondered when Tooru had managed to steal his phone and he made a mental note to change his phone passcode and Tooru’s name on his contacts.

  
‘Iwa-chaaan!’ Tooru’s voice squeaked through the phone, Hajime had to move his phone back from his ear. Damn Alpha hearing.

‘Shittykawa don’t yell through the phone,’ he grumbled. The restlessness he’d been feeling faded, he thought nothing of it, probably his medication kicking in. 

  
‘I can’t believe you abandoned me today.’ Come to think of it, this was the first time he’d ever been absent.

  
‘Hardly my fault I’m ill.’

  
‘Presenting as an Alpha isn’t exactly an illness,’ Hajime could hear some bitterness coming off Tooru’s tone. Since they’d been young Tooru’s always hoped he still might Present as an Alpha, and now his best friend was one. Hajime didn’t even want to be one, but he couldn’t tell Tooru that. He’d only think of it as Hajime attempting to make him feel better, and Tooru hated pity.

‘How does it feel?’

  
‘I’m on multiple meds right now just so I don’t get a headache, Oikawa, so I feel absolutely fan-fucking-tastic', that came out way more annoyed and sarcastic than he'd intended. Is this what they were saying about him getting more moodswings? ‘It's really not that different.’ How was he supposed to say, _'Oh you know, I could potentially be a rapist if they took me off the drugs.'_

'Well, aren't  you just the same anti-climatic Iwa-chan I know and love.'

'I live to please', he really did. 

  
‘Can I come over later? I’ll give you the notes and homework you’ve missed.’ Tooru’s tone was hopeful and Hajime started to feel that familiar warmth of happiness he’d always get when Tooru does something for him he knows he wouldn’t do for anyone else. It’s casual gestures like this which keep feeding his hopeless, unhealthy, one-sided crush he’s been harbouring for his best friend.

  
‘I’m not really allowed any visitors,’ Hajime was reluctant to admit. ‘The doctor’s suggested that it would be best for me to be kept under observation for now and that only immediate family members are allowed to see me. Some bullshit about me being territorial.’

 

‘I can't  ever imagine you being territorial Hajime,' Tooru was right about that, Hajime mused. He had the temperament of a beta, sure he can get pissed, but he was never aggressive by nature (outside the court). 'Is it really just because of that?' Tooru pressed, voice curious and slightly suspicious.

'Yeah, Mother's the only one who's been in and out my room after the doctor left.'

Tooru  hummed in response, then went silent on the other end. Hajime would have thought that Tooru had hung up on him if it hadn't been for the noise in the background.

'Yah, Tooru, you still there?'

'I am,'  there was a note of amusement in his voice.

  
‘What? Did someone fall on their face?’

  
‘Hey! I’d never laugh at a fellow student’s misfortune.’ Hajime raised an eyebrow at that, and as if Tooru could see Hajime's expression he admitted, 'Fine! Fine I would, but I’d be discrete about it Iwa-chan!’

‘Sure you would,’ Hajime was smiling now. Stupid, adorable, little shit. He missed him, it hasn’t even been a day. 'So why’d you start cackling on the other end?’

  
‘I wasn’t cackling, my laughter sounds like the tinkering of bells -angelic.’ If Tooru was in front of him his hip would be cocked and he’d have that sassy look on his face.

  
‘You cackle like the witch from Snow White.’ Hajime deadpanned.

  
‘You said you haven’t watched it,’ Tooru pointed out, he could hear the smile on his voice. ‘You’re a little Disney princes inside Iwa-chan, don’t even deny it.’

  
‘I’m fucking Mulan.’ He said seriously eliciting a laugh from Tooru.

  
‘You’re too ugly to be Mulan.’

  
‘Well you sing like a dying whale so you can’t be any of them.’ Hajime shot back . ‘Now quit distracting me and answer my question.’  
Tooru paused on the other end. ‘Oh that?’ Tooru asked voice sly; Hajime could hear that classic shit-eating grin on his face. ‘You know Iwa-chan, you don’t have to be embarrassed if you’re going to you know…’ He let his sentence trail off before he started giggling again.

  
‘What do you mean?’ Hajime asked genuinely confused, what the heck is he on about.

  
‘You know…’ Tooru said mysteriously. Humour still in his voice, it was only pissing Hajime off.

  
‘I really don’t.’ Tooru seemed to find this hilarious for some reason. 

  
‘You’ll give yourself an aneurysm if you keep laughing like that you dumbass.’ He had half a mind to just hang up.

  
‘Everyone knows Alphas have their rut on the first few days. Don’t rub too hard Iwa-chan,’ Tooru sing-songed and Hajime wished so bad that he could smack Tooru. ‘I bet you regret not being in school now Iwa-chan,’ Tooru taunted as if reading his mind.

  
You bet your ass Hajime did. ‘Get your mind out the gutter Shittykawa, I’m not doing any of that Alpha shit.’

  
‘Eh,’ Tooru sounded really surprised by the information, ‘you have a knot though.'

  
‘It’s a bit complicated, I’ll tell you when I get back.’ 

  
‘Can you show me your knot as well?’ Tooru asked, voice tinged with excitement and Hajime was horrified when he felt his dick twitch at the mental image of Tooru seeing him so intimately.

‘What the fuck Oikawa. Why the hell would I show you my dick?' He was way too calm having this conversation, it was a testament really, to how used he was to Tooru. 

  
‘I’ve never seen what a knot looks like before,’ Hajime could practically see Tooru pouting. ‘I’m your best friend, and even Maki’s seen it.’ He said it like it would hopefully make Hajime change his mind.

  
‘First of all, what best friends want to look at each other’s dicks. Secondly, I didn’t even realise Hanamaki was there!’ He's gonna kill Maki, and then Tooru.

  
‘But Iwa-chan, Yamada promised Kobayashi he’d show him his knot when he Presents!’

  
‘Why the hell are you comparing us to those two weirdos?’ Yamada and Kobayashi were in the same class as them and were the resident creeps. ‘If you’re so interested go watch porn.’

  
‘Porn’s gross and weird.’ Tooru sounded so disgusted and horrified.

  
‘And asking to look at my dick isn’t weird?’ Hajime sometimes honestly doesn’t understand how Tooru's mimd works. ‘Can you hear how ridiculous you sound Oikawa?’

  
‘It’s different because it’s Iwa-chan’s’, Tooru insisted.

  
‘I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear the last two minutes of conversation we just had.’

  
‘But Iwa-‘

  
‘No.’ Hajime firmly cut him off. He could hear Tooru harrumphing in annoyance but he thankfully didn’t say anything more. ‘The way your mind works sometimes Oikawa, it's like you've turned into one of those damned aliens you're obsessed with.’ Hajime sighed deeply. He heard the bell go off in the background, ‘you better head back to class now.’

  
‘Sensei won’t really care if I’m late for a few more minutes,’ Tooru said sounding reluctant to hang up the phone. It made Hajime feel warm, did Tooru miss him as much as he did? ‘Yah, Shittykawa, go to class. Your parents don’t pay hefty fees for you to be skipping.’

  
Tooru really wouldn’t get into any trouble if he chose to skip the whole day. Their tutor loved him that much, it was almost unfair how a Tooru had everyone wrapped around his fingers. Except Hajime understood all too well how reason tends to fly off when it comes to Tooru.

  
‘It sucks without you,’ Tooru admitted quietly and Hajime cheeks felt hot. If only it was said in a different context, much less platonic. 'Only because I had to do pair work with Keito twice now! And he smells!’ Tooru hastily added.

  
‘Get to class Oikawa,’ Hajime said, unable to stop smiling now, Tooru misses him. Granted, he misses his best friend, but still. Hajime will take what he can. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

  
‘Bye Iwa-chan.’

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who’s dropped a comment/kudos/bookmarked. You have no idea how much the gesture means to me and how it encourages me loads to keep writing. Hope everyone’s having a fab week day :*

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This story will legit have every cliche you can think of from other movies/tv shows/books/fanfics. I claim no credit for originality. Like Iwaizumi's going to be some angsty Gu Jun Pyo later (which is why Hajime's mom has a bit of background). As for Oikawa, I love Oikawa's character <3 Call me out if I'm making him too girly in this fic because I want Oikawa to stay having his cheeky, shit-eating attitude from the manga and the anime.
> 
> Not really sure how I'll incorporate other Haikyuu characters tbh. Not even sure if this is gonna be a one-shot. If it won't, ratings will go up.


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